How do we harness and challenge our knowledge of science, medicine, sustainability, technology and other vital areas of endeavour to better prepare for the future? That’s the question that will be asked at Knowledge and Learning Week, with interested parties being able to join virtually on 15-16 December 2020 to find out how education, skills and work must keep evolving in order to face new challenges and new opportunities in the years ahead.
Recognising the critical role of knowledge across countries, cultures, generations and social contexts, Expo 2020 Dubai’s Knowledge and Learning Week will explore the future of education and how its reform is vital to reflect a changing world that must benefit our children, the economy, and society as a whole.
Open to the public, the event will be delivered in association with UAE-based global philanthropic organisation Dubai Cares, with keynote remarks offered by Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau and UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation; His Excellency Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, UAE Minister of Education; and His Excellency Dr Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Cares and a Member of its Board.
Expo and UAE philanthropic group to host virtual Knowledge and Learning Week
Innovating for a Better Future
Knowledge and Learning Week will look at how education and know-how can propel the global community to innovate for a better future for all, helping humankind push further than we have ever done before. Topics will include digitalising education, upskilling Arab youth and last-mile learning as the world looks to rebuild in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Other subjects covered will take in intangible and tangible heritage, creative industries and knowledge economies, and tourism as a catalyst for community knowledge exchange.
Various Expo 2020 international participants, grantees from Expo 2020’s global innovation and partnership programme Expo Live, and projects supported under Expo 2020’s Global Best Practice Programme – a platform that highlights projects from around the world that have provided impactful and sustainable interventions, with a view to expanding them elsewhere – will feature across the two-day event.
These include Expo Live grantee Seenaryo, a Lebanon-based arts and education organisation whose ‘Kindergarten Playkit’, a mobile app offered in Arabic, French and English, is transforming the teaching of refugee children, and The Citizens Foundation, a Global Best Practice project that hires only female teachers and principals to deliver quality education in Pakistan’s most neglected rural and slum communities.
Topics include digitalising education, last mile learning, and upskilling Arab youth
Meaningful, Action-Oriented Dialogue
Dubai Cares will also host RewirEdX, an international conference on education, over the two days, bringing education leaders and practitioners from around the world together to engage in meaningful, action-oriented dialogue to rethink and reimagine attitudes towards education.
This virtual event will serve as a one-year countdown to the RewirEd Summit, which will take place in collaboration with Expo 2020 Dubai during Expo’s Knowledge and Learning Week in 2021.
This will include Rewiring Education/Learning for the Future, a panel discussion moderated by Annina Mattsson, Director at RewirEd, and featuring Paolo Glisenti (Italian Commissioner General to Expo 2020 Dubai), Professor Nihel Chabrak (CEO, UAEU Science and Innovation Park, Executive Director UAEU Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai Fund), and Ekaterina Loshkareva (R&D Director for WorldSkills Russia).
In addition there will be talks and breakout sessions throughout the two days from a number of leading delegates from all over the world, including:
- Educating Finland/Resilient TVET, showcasing Finnish systematic and digital success
- Plenery: the Future of Connectionivity and Education, encompassing lessons learned, best practices and recommendations on how to strengthen distance learning opportunities, and how to better respond in the face of a crisis
- Estonia Panel, highlighting personalised education empowered by technology
- Plenery: Minister of Education Perspective, which looks ahead to 2021 and asks: How Will I Start my Year? This will be moderated by HE David Sengeh, Minister of Education in Sierra Leone.
There will be time to relax and unwind too.
On 15 December at 7.00pm, for instance, there will be a performance by one of the world’s leading opera stars, Juan Diego Florez, whose generosity, charisma and passion have inspired his many philanthropic endeavours. There will also be a series of short Children’s Tales from Around the World.
Knowledge and Learning Week features leading policymakers, academics and thought leaders who are committed to creating a future that is bright, prosperous and optismistic for everyone on the planet. This is an important event and should not be missed.
Keynote Speakers
